It’s no secret that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, has been pushing schools for years to do what they can to help the lowest-performing students to pass. But is all this focus to make par, hurting those students who are gifted? New research says it might.

As an education reporter I spend an immense amount of time in State Board of Education meetings while political education leaders debated Texas’ curriculum, history books, and squabbled over standardized tests. There’s no pretty about it. Our schools aren’t making the bar. But a recent Newsweek article suggests our focus on getting everyone to pass, is failing our gifted students.

In a news release, David Lubinski, a professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University said, “gifted children are a precious human-capital resource.” His team at Vanderbilt University has tracked some of the countries brightest pupils since 1971. Now, around the age of 38, many of these adults have a wide range of careers and degrees.

Only about two percent of the average population earns a Ph. D. Out of the 320 participants in this group, 203 earned at least a master’s degree and 142 of them (or 44 percent) achieved their doctoral degrees. That’s just a little taste of this gifted demographic.

Despite the focus in schools to bring the weakest students up, these gifted children have managed to excel, but is that how things should continue? Or should more public schools push for additional educational opportunities for gifted children?

Christine Fonseca, educational psychologist and author of Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students and 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids said we aren’t supporting gifted learners as we need to.

“Most school districts teach towards a narrow ridge of standards, unable to assist children who easily exceed the standard,” Fonseca said.

Although she has worked in public education, her children attend public schools, and she is a product of public schools that have been able to meet their unique needs, she said they are the lucky ones.

“The truth is, public schools don’t meet the needs of gifted children at all,” Fonseca said. “And if the child happens to be gifted [and] learning disabled, forget it – the chances that the school will be able to support the child’s learning difficulties and push him/her towards his potential is slim.”

These gifted children aren’t necessarily falling behind, but they might not reach their true potential when the teachers are more focused on low-performing students, instead of those who are light-years ahead. Most people, including educators, believe gifted children can learn in any environment, and while Fonseca said that is true, they can learn in spite of inadequate educational experiences, they still benefit from good coaching to bring out their best.

“And this is yet again where education fails,” Fonseca told BabyCenter. “We currently live with educational systems that belief in providing access to quality education, not building potential. It is a mind set that has failed every child from those with disabilities to gifted individuals. If we are going to effect positive change, particularly for our gifted youth, we need to move away from mediocrity and make the decision to develop the many talents of our gifted youth.”

But does it have to be one or the other? Some teachers are looking for ways to tailor their assignments to different groups of students, based on where they are on the learning spectrum. Can we, should we expect that from all of our educators? And possibly the biggest question—Can we afford to? Can we afford not to?

Questions like these leave myself asking if public education is the place for my children, or if a smaller setting like private school, or homeschool would be better.

Jennifer is a domestically challenged part-time journalist, and a full-time mom. She’s a parenting reporter, living big adventures with her family in Texas. To catch more of her adventures in multiracial parenting, follow @JenniferBorget on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest and read more from her personal blog at BabyMakingMachine.com.

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Yes gifted children are left to their own devices quite a bit because they generally will do well no matter what. I’ve watched it with daughter especially. There aren’t easy answers or fixes for this issue. Thankfully she does get pull out gifted every day for an hour but that’s not enough. Due to finances & location private school isn’t an option & I have to work so I can’t homeschool either. I’m trying to help her graduate early & take dual enrollment classes when she’s older to get to college faster.

M of Ohio

Both of my children got really turned off and bored with school before being identified as gifted. Because school has been easy for my daughter she hasn’t learned how to deal with frustration and working through a difficult topic. This is an important skill that all kids need to learn. I also have a problem with the gifted label because it sets kids aside as different rather then having the school systems meet EVERY child where they are in helping them to challenge them intellectually, develop their strengths and build up their weaknesses. That said, without a gifted program in our public school that challenges them and meets them where they are academically, we would be looking for private school options.

michikodesu

I have a HUGE rant about this. But I will spare everyone the dissertation that was going to write.

The answer is yes, because our government and other people with zero connection with education or have an educational background wants pretty much every child to be on the same page. We, as teachers and schools, have had to lower our standards so that all children can meet a need that is below their own abilities. Therefore, children are not challenged. And if the normal population of students are challenged intellectually, then you can deduce that the ones who are gifted are pretty much bored out of their minds.

We try to tailor our lessons so that every child’s ability is challenged and met; but with all the new curriculum, or new teaching “style”, or new standards; the student’s needs get shoved to the side for the sake of “progressive education”. It’s not about the students learning anymore. It’s about numbers and statistics and tests. I mean, there’s a whole lot I can type about; but like I’m sure you don’t want to read everything that I would spew out.

michikodesu

whoops…….that should read “students'”

mamabadger

I think people are completely missing the point of the public education system, as it was originally intended. The point was to make sure EVERYONE could read, write and do basic math so that they could function in our society. So, we should be most worried about the kids who aren’t meeting those standards. How will the fair when we expect them to contribute to our country after school is over?

If your little snowflake can do more than that, pat your wonderful genes on the back. Then realize that, like any gifted athlete or musician, it’s up to the parents to go beyond what a public school can offer. Schools are obligated to get kids to a certain point, then parents do the rest. That’s your job. Much like a school might teach my child to play violin (and before you say cut music ed before honors classes, why is a gifted musician less valuable than a gifted learner?) I wouldn’t expect them to give extra lessons if my kid showed superior talent.

michikodesu

@mamabadger: Not everyone is going to succeed. I think everyone needs to understand that, even if they are going to a public school. I’m tired of catering to the ones who haven’t grasped the basic “skills” but have been passed on so much that they could care less about being in school, yet they have to go because it’s against the law if they are not there. Regardless of if they actually do well or not will not make them productive members of society, so sorry to say. So let them wallow in what they want and let us focus on the ones who are truly doing something.

Being gifted does not mean that those kids are “snowflakes”. They are highly intelligent but many of them can’t do anything with it because there’s nothing in place. Or, if there are classes that will let them be intelligent without being ridiculed in class, those classes are stuffed with kids who shouldn’t be there just because of numbers and the school wanting to look good because they have full AP classes.

The true snowflakes are the kids who are not gifted but the parents can’t face reality and push them to do things that they’re not capable of doing.

Wellsmom

I tend to agree with mamabadger in the sense that parents need to look out for their kids and try to do what they can to meet their educational needs, whether they are met entirely by the public schools or not. My kids are in what I think is a pretty great public elementary school. However, I feel that they both need more challenge. I don’t necessarily think my kids are “gifted” but they are definitely above average. My son was screened for “gifted” when he was in kindergarten at the school, but then they needed to pull the gifted teacher for other needs and his program was cancelled. They do keep it for the other grades. My daughter will be screened this year. Hopefully they will have the resources, but if not, we are taking things into our own hands already. I don’t feel we need to spend $$$$$$ on private school, but we do invest in reading and math enrichment programs outside of school, and they have been an affordable and terrific complement to the public school thus far.

karen

My MIL has been a public school teacher for over 30 years and she has stated that NCLB has indeed put teachers in the position of “teaching to the test” she has also noticed that the number of children labeled as “gifted” has skyrocketed over the past 5-7 years. The testing to determine giftedness has changed considerably. If you had a child in 3rd grade that was reading at a 4th or 5th grade level that used to be considered a very good advanced reader- now it translates to gifted even if they aren’t advanced in any other areas. Parents are so obsessed with their child being gifted that public schools are afraid parents will pull their children to put them in private or charter schools if the public school won’t label them as gifted.

tee

Every school is different with regard to how much focus is placed on gifted students, if any at all. If your child is in fact gifted, it is your responsibility to seek out any and all avenues for their growth and development beyond what they receive at school. A public school education, I would argue, is not ENOUGH for ANY child. Every child has talents and gifts, and challenges and weaknesses, that are entirely their own. So, if your child has specialized needs that have been clearly identified… gifted, learning disorders, etc., even moreso, you need to step up to the plate and relentlessly find them the help they need.

And what I think is a misnomer is that most people think “gifted” is a windfall of genetic luck. In reality it’s much more complicated and often comes with elevated stress, anxiety, social inadequacies, behavior issues, and depression. They may be intelligent, but their lives are no walk in the park. And with the challenges they face, there is no guaranty that their futures are any brighter than thier peers.

Jessica

I was pulled out for a gifted program when I was in school. It was available only in elementary school, on Fridays we were pulled into a different class where we had stations to work on that were open ended and encouraged critical thinking, logic, more advanced math. I loved it, and having it available kept me interested in school. I also had teachers who gave me more challenging work, and parents who exposed me to anything I showed interest and aptitude in. I think it is a shame that by catering to the bottom 10% of students we are disengaging the top 10%. I kind of get back to the idea that age is not what should propel students through school, but actually gaining a level of knowledge. Our district had gifted classes available only in elementary school because once we were in middle and high schools instead of having different content we were just enrolled in a higher grade level. I skipped a grade level in math, two in reading and English, and got to take science and social studies/history at an accelerated pace. It was a fantastic system that allowed me to graduate a year early while still earning college credits from an affiliated school in my final year. If something like this could be implemented on a wide basis it would be wonderful.

Allison

I was a “gifted” kid in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Tee basically nailed it as far as my experience in school. I used to be envious of people who got to skip grades but now I see that it would have been terrible because of how immature, awkward, and anxious I was.

Even small programs and individual help from teachers made a huge difference to me. I still remember a once – a-week writing group in elementary school, and I’ll forever be grateful to the high school foreign language teacher who let me read novels in the library most of the time.

http://expatcatlife.blogspot.com Jules

I actually agree with mamabadger: the public school system is there to make sure everybody can read, write, and do ‘rithmetic. And seeing as how the US (as a whole) does so appallingly on all three measures, I just don’t understand how catering to the 3-5% of kids who are gifted/talented can be justified.

I was a gifted/talented student in my first school system; when we moved, the high school I attended didn’t have any such program, but they did offer AP courses, which were plenty tough. Within a public school system, there ought to be a way to fast-track students who can do the work AND have normal/remedial classes for those who can’t.

It’s all very well and good to talk policy changes, but really, the most critical thing that needs to change about education is that trust needs to be restored. Parents and school systems have to trust that teachers, for the most part, are honest, hard-working people who aren’t out to screw over their kids. Teachers need to know that parents will listen to their judgments about their kids, and at least consider their suggestions. And everybody needs to chill out about sex-ed and stop teaching creationism as science (I don’t have a problem with creationism–but it’s NOT science). Until this happens (nationally), the education system will remain broken.

Seriously

Some have basically said that schools should cater to the lowest common denominator and just make sure that kids learn how to read, write, and do math. Great so my three year old can graduate! Why is it that I will be forced to waste my time and my kid’s time going to a school all day when he already know what they are being taught. You say it is up to me to homeschool or private school him? Well we are not rich people and I need to work. I am the one who got him to this point by seeing his interests and working with him. Why isn’t it up to parents to teach the basics and have school be where they learn the tougher stuff? Parents know how to read and write and do math so those things are easier to teach at home than higher level things. This is so backwards!

lesa

I agree because I have a gifted child and my child is becoming bored and frustrated in school because its not challenging enough.Schools do focus more on kids that fall behind, but what about the ones that need more. does my child have to fail before the school help my child.My child says to me I feel like I will lose my gift if I’m not challenged enough. That hurts to her that from my child.

Natasha

Wow, mamabadger, we could turn that whole ‘snowflake’ thing right ’round the other way. YES, ABSOLUTELY parents are supposed to be involved in their child’s education, so maybe if your special snowflake is falling behind and struggling, instead of the teacher having to slow the rest if the kids down, maybe you should tutor your child to help them keep up? Hire a tutor!!! Pay for extra classes! Oh dear, we didn’t like that! Only parents who can ‘pat themselves on the back’ for passing on ‘good, gifted’ genes to their kids should have to pay extra for their special snowflakes to excel!
Seriously though…..parents with gifted kids pay property tax too. (I would know, I just did our taxes. And wrote a check to the govt. heyyy such fun)
Our oldest was flagged as ‘gifted’ in 1st grade, she meets with other kids and a teacher a few times a week for enrichment. What I really love, love, love about our PUBLIC school is how they handle the maths/science. There are usually 4/5 classes in each grade, so during several points during the year, they test the kids for aptitude and split them up not by home room teacher, but by ability, so my daughter goes to a diff teacher for math, with other kids at her ability level, so she is learning at a pace appropriate for their current capabilities. This is flexible, and kids may get moved between different classes, which keeps it fluid and growing-making sure kids aren’t bored or frustrated. I love our school.
There are also several STEM schools in our area, which is awesome.

constance

I’m glad I live in Canada. Apologies – but the truth of the matter is that we have a public school system that addresses the needs of both. In our public school system a gifted child is identified and treated similarly to a challenged student. Identified and provided an idividual learning plan.
My daughter has been identified as gifted, and her, along with a 21 other identified children, are able to attend a class, in a school (not her home school – we must get her there) that has a program for gifted students starting at Grade 4 until they enter high school.
While I get that children who are not meeting the bar deserve the focus and attention of teachers just as much, if not more, than the gifted student – it has to be understood that many gifted students – when not appropriately challenged – become distractions in class. My daughter did NOT contribute to a positive learning environment for others because she would either get bored and act out, or she would “help” others and do their work for them.
Think about this too – most gifted children DO need to learn. They need to learn study skills, learning habits, focus. While my daughter could race through a lesson from Pre-school to grade 3 – and likely continue until grade 6 or 7 – eventually she will not understand something. And then what? How does she cope? How does she learn? More than anything – she needs to learn how to learn and this is better taught at an early age or their giftedness will be wasted once they begin to face challenges and don’t have the coping mechanisms that other children have developed through years of learning.
In grade 3 my daughter spent most of her time in the library stacking books and in the kindergarten classes prepping for their art classes. How is that not leaving her behind? Now – she has the SAME curriculum as mainstream children – but the difference is the type of work she does. Projects, demonstrations, hands on learning, application to real life – she is challenged to take it to the next level.
If you don’t find a way to engage your gifted children, they will become problem children later in life. Because they won’t learn how to cope, how to deal with challenges, how deal with failure. What a waste of a mind that will be!

mamabadger

Wow, so we should worry about the kids who are above the general population, and just let those kids who fall behind go? And when they can’t get a job that will allow them to have a family and kids, we should give them welfare? Or let them starve? Again, the point of public education is the greater good. To keep our society going. Its a vicious cycle. The kids falling behind probably come from a home where the parents CAN’T help their kids, because they didn’t succeed either. Now, go ahead and bash them. Because that will stop the cycle…

Until NCLB, many schools had school to work programs (BOCIES, VOC Ed, call it what you will). That allowed the students who weren’t succeeding academically (the kids who will NEVER succeed, as michikodesu so nicely called them) to train for a vocation. It actually worked out very nicely. But now to be up to snuff, we all need to be ready to go to college. Because being a plumber or a beautician just isn’t good enough… So those kids had to have remedial math and english to get a diploma and graduate, and they don’t have time to go to Voc Ed anymore.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have AP classes, or get rid of integrated classrooms. I’m just saying if you have to give up something, at least make sure everyone is getting the basics down. Because if we can’t get there, we will always have a part of our society that can’t function in the real world, and will need other assistance later on.

Natasha

I really like your comment Constance, it brings some valid points about gifted kids. The knowing how to deal with challenges/study hit home. I was in the ‘gifted’ classes as a child, then my parents moved and we switched school systems to a very small, rural school with no resources. So I basically flew through high school and graduated top of the class, without every having to LEARN how to study or respond to academic challenges. It hit kinda hard when I got to college and actually needed to know how to study to keep my scholarships/stay in the the honors programs. Luckily I had an awesome advisor who helped me find the resources I needed, after I almost failed out of first semester. Apparently, you can’t throw together an honors civ paper last min and BS your way through and get an A, like I did in HS..
So we really work on that with our kids, because I don’t want them to be in that situation.

Danny’s Momma

Talk to your child’s teacher and see what is available for them if you feel they aren’t being pushed towards their potential. And like Mamabadger said, parents need to guide their children as well if they feel they aren’t being challenged enough.

My son is ahead of most of his kindergarden class in math. He and two other children from his class who are at a similar level to him are pulled from the classroom every day at math time. They go to another classroom with other mathematically “gifted” (I really hate that label) children and they do higher level math there. I like this idea, because while the other children in his classroom are learning at the standard rate and are succeeding as they need to, my son is reaching HIS potential as well and is being challenged, and not getting bored.

Rachel

I grew up a gifted child (clinically labeled not school labeled). I was bored as bored can get. Sure, we had a gifted pull-out program, but that wasn’t enough. My parents weren’t the most involved or rich people out there so I couldn’t get extra work. My older sister is also gifted, and together we would go to the library, and read every day after school. We read most of the books in the local library by high school. I graduated valedictorian of my class in high school with a perfect 4.0, and went on to college. Once in college, I realized that although I am intelligent, I could not study worth crap nor did I know how to manage time so I could get all of papers done on time. I somehow graduated from college summa cum laude, but not after a lot of help from my advisors, and from tutors on time management, study skills, and how to break down in frustration when I actually didn’t know something. My sister was the same way. She now has a master’s in engineering, and I am going to be graduating with my master’s in English. My sister and I are both members of Mensa, and have clinically tested IQs of 150-160. My oldest daughter is showing signs of having a high IQ like both her father and I. Now, she’s only 29 months old so I have years to hope the education system changes before I worry, plus I have no idea if she’s smart or just picks up on my vocabulary, and my husband’s constant math problem solving. I’m secretly hoping she’s just average so she won’t have to grow up with the same problems I did. The education system is so messed up; it’s horrible. There needs to be programs for both the slow and the fast, the smarter than average and the ones who need some more help. America will never move forward unless both sides of the scale are addressed.

Natasha

@mamabadger
No, we should not let any child fall behind. But in your original comment, you stated that school is only part of a child’s learning process, and the parents should pick up whatever slack concerning their ‘special snowflake’ and their ‘gifted genes’. That can swing both ways, was the point I was trying to make. Which you missed…completely….
And to assume that gifted kids only come from rich parents (which, I can assure you from personal experience, is not true-I did not grow up rich by any means and my parents didn’t pay for college-I got a full ride based on grades/SATS) is kind of a big leap.

HappyHippie

In our district, gifted children are considered special needs, so their funding comes from the same budget as kids who face a lot of challenges. So of course, the bulk of the budget goes to helping the kids with challenges learn to navigate the world and to reach their full potential and become productive members of society. As a parent of a very bright child, it’s hard for me to imagine taking any sort of funding away from those children for a kid who will most likely breeze through the curriculum without any trouble.

And yet…I know my child’s special needs are not being met either. He’s a kindergartener reading at a sixth grade level. He understands prime numbers, pi, and is currently obsessed with the Fibonacci sequence. His teachers are doing the best they can to keep him engaged, but they’ve got 23 other kids in class, and almost half don’t speak English. We can’t afford private schools, special tutors, or after school programs and camps. What we can do is the library, Khan Academy, Nerdist Channel (Danica McKellar’s math videos are AMAZING!), How Stuff Works, anything from Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and PBS shows like Nova.

My point is, there are more free resources for bright kids to supplement their education than ever before. If they have teachers who are willing to keep them engaged during the day to keep them from getting bored and becoming a distraction, they will be fine. He complains sometimes that he spends all day at school wishing he could be home learning and doing experiments, but he loves his teachers and doesn’t want to do home school or cyber charter. And he is still just a goofy little kid who wants to sing songs about letters and numbers and play on the playground and paint. I wish with all my heart that I could find a school where someone could teach him something besides rules, where he could meet other kids who live to learn and don’t look at him like he’s a two-headed alien, and where he could be happy, fulfilled, and thrive. But it’s my job as his parent to help him reach his full potential, and so far, we’re doing just fine.

Dora Hetrick

We used to have a philosophy that the gifted children could do it themselves. They didn’t need much extra. While there’s some truth in that, I used to think that if the same effort were given to gifted as it is to children needing extra help to reach the “middle” we could have a whole new world. Progress in every field from the technological to the philosophical could advance the human condition to a whole new level. I still think that, but much of our attention goes to the struggling student. I wouldn’t take anything away from these students. Life’s hard enough that they need all the help they can get to survive. But think of the potential advancement if gifted children were taken to the top of their capabilities.
A very astute principal that I worked for set up a gifted program. It wasn’t an academically oriented plan, but it gave gifted children something extra that they weren’t used to having. Can you believe that some of these children had felt inferior because their talents were not respected. They would have felt better if they could have pitched a no-hitter – or made a touchdown. Participation in the program gave these children a new lease on life. Postures straightened, a light returned to their eyes, and even their academic capabilities improved. The program was a complete success because it gave the children needed self esteem.

mamabadger

Natasha- I did get your point. Which is why I pointed out that most kids falling behind THAT badly can’t get help from home. Many times, their parents also failed in the system.

And, if parent’s can’t afford to help a kid falling behind, the just fall further behind. Don’t get me wrong, if a parent of a failing child can afford it (even just the time) they should be helping, too. But my point is, if they can’t, then that child should get first priority from the public funds. A gifted child who’s parents can’t afford it can still be productive, a failing child can’t.

Airlia Paria

Gifted children need programs. At age 7 I was reading at college graduate level. Because of no child left behind, I was forced to read with my classmates, who read at a 2nd grade reading level. I can honestly say I was bored all through my school years, and I feel I could have done better in college if I was allowed to go sooner. During my college education I was bored because i already new a majority of the content already

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